No news may bring Cleveland Browns fans all the way down from the excitement of landing Johnny Manziel in the 2014 NFL draft, but the team’s latest development may temper their reaction a bit.

Star wide receiver Josh Gordon is facing up to a year-long ban from the NFL for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, according to a report from ESPN’s Outside the Lines. Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo says that Gordon is hoping to get the ban reduced to four to six games. According to ESPN, Gordon tested positive for marijuana, his second offense under the NFL’s program — last year he was suspended for two games and docked two additional game checks for a similar misstep.

The 23-year-old Gordon exploded into stardom last season, his second with Cleveland. He finished the 2013 campaign with 87 catches for an NFL-best 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns, numbers that earned him both a Pro Bowl invite and a first-team All-Pro honor.

Cleveland entered the draft seemingly in need of at least one more receiver to pair with Gordon in its offense, which now looks as if it will be Manziel-led. The Browns did add Andrew Hawkins from the Bengals earlier this offseason, as well as ex-Lion Nate Burleson in free agency; Greg Little and Travis Benjamin also return. None of those players is even in Gordon’s vicinity in terms of talent or production.

It is a safe bet, though, that the Browns were aware of Gordon’s pending situation with the league headed into this draft — one that happens to be rich with wide receivers, even after multiple players were chosen at that position in Round 1. The Browns hold the third pick in Round 2 (No. 35 overall), as well as five other selections over the duration of the draft.

At least one, and possibly more, of those spots figures to be reserved for a wide receiver. Most interesting there? The Browns had a clean shot at either Sammy Watkins or Mike Evans with the No. 4 pick on Thursday night, but instead opted to trade down with Buffalo — which came up from No. 9 to draft Watkins, in exchange for 2015 first- and fourth-round picks.

Gordon was suspended indefinitely from Baylor before the 2011 season following an arrest for marijuana, and declared for the supplemental draft shortly thereafter. The Browns forfeited a 2013 second-round pick to nab Gordon in the supplemental draft, and he said then that he had learned from his mistakes.

“Despite everything I’ve been through, despite being a kid with a spotty background, the Cleveland Browns stuck their neck out and risked taking me and put their faith and belief in me, and I won’t let them down,” Gordon told Doug Farrar. “I’m grateful, and I know I can’t go back to being the person I used to be.”

He rewarded the Browns’ faith immediately, catching 50 passes as a rookie before skyrocketing last season. With Manziel headed to Cleveland and the addition of new offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, the stage was set for Gordon to solidify his status as one of the NFL’s most productive receivers.

Instead, he may miss the entirety of the upcoming season, a devastating blow both to his development as a player and to the Browns’ chances of ascending in the AFC North.

Originally Posted by MotorAve

Careful, while the threats are amusingly clueless, I could probably have this whole board shut down with one phone call.

Re: NFL Time

Originally Posted by nathanfairchild

I'm just thrilled Dallas didn't fuck up their picks this year. Nice to see them attempting to fix our defense.

They almost did... The Falcons were ready to take Demarcus Lawrence, which is why we had to overpay a division rival to trade up and swipe him before Atlanta. That was a close one and would have potentially left Dallas without a replacement for Ware. I love the Martin pick at 16, was praying they didn't scratch the seat filling itch of Manziel. Good moves this year.

Best draft grade overall has to go to Minnesota, they really fucked shit up this year. We should have never let Mike Zimmer leave Dallas.

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Yeah, Brandin Cooks is going to be a nightmare for secondaries to match up against... Great pick by the Saints. They were probably the most surprising team this off season with their Jairus Byrd signing and jumping up to grab another receiver when I was under the impression they were solely targeting Marcus Martin at Center. Good on them, fucking assholes.

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I don't see a 5'10 guy as a 'nightmare', regardless of how fast he can run a straight line without pads. It's the tall freaks with speed and moves, guys like Calvin Johnson, who are nightmares. Brandin Cooks may wind up a significant punt return threat though.

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He has the potential to run circles around every defense in the middle of the field, slip through the cracks in the slot, burst down the field on the outside, and lineup in the backfield for trick plays... I watched both of his 200 yard games last year against Cal and Utah and can admit that I had not seen anything THAT electrifying from any WR in this year's draft, not to mention the Biletnikoff award he won as college football's top WR. All of that could equate to him being a "nightmare" for defenses in the NFL.

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Sean Lee has apparently torn his ACL during non-contact drills at OTAs. It was first round rookie OG Zach Martin that he was going against so I think we can all agree that if Jerry had pulled the trigger on Johnny Football this never would have happened.

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The Manziel coverage is just laughable. "Manziel went to Vegas and had a good time on his days off. Is he out of control?" ... And the national media wonders why Cleveland locked them out of rookie camp.

Originally Posted by guedita

And to be fair to fikus, violent strangulation is one of his better qualities.

Originally Posted by malcolmjamalawesome

Being dead is literally the only way anyone on the planet could give less of a shit about you. You look like Farrah Fawcett's melted corpse.

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I am disappointed I haven't been given a chart that maps out Manziel's daily diet and workout regimen. That way I can question if he is consuming enough complex carbohydrates to fuel his workout. Otherwise, he is a loose cannon and cannot be controlled.

Originally Posted by guedita

And to be fair to fikus, violent strangulation is one of his better qualities.

Originally Posted by malcolmjamalawesome

Being dead is literally the only way anyone on the planet could give less of a shit about you. You look like Farrah Fawcett's melted corpse.

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Fffffffffffuuuuuuuck

Edit: I thought this was related to the domestic incident. Turns out another substance abuse issue. I figure the Cards have to release him now. I'm sure he'll enjoy watching football and toking up with Josh Gordon, at least. Sigh